Hoop Dreams Deferred, Norris Takes Her Shot at Track

They come with strength and athleticism from soccer, swimming and basketball. They come to learn and grow, tickled at how good they are, with no airs about their sudden celebrity. They come knowing that a 5-minute mile is only a stepping stone, they dip in droves under 4:50, many coming closer to 4:40 or even better. They come, fully formed, confident, in the vanguard of a national girls running revolution. They come because of Mary Cain.

They are all dream milers, like Josette Norris of Tenafly, N.J., the state 1600m champion in 4:41.61, a 27-second improvement over her times of a year ago. “I just love the mile,” said Norris moments after her state Meet of Champions victory on June 5 in South Plainfield. “I love the four laps. You get to use your speed. It’s not all endurance.”

Norris, who started her dramatic improvement after giving up basketball, said she also loves Cain. “I inboxed her ‘Happy Birthday’ on Facebook,” said Norris. “She has like 2,000 friends. She responded, ‘Thank you so much,’ with a smiley face.”

Like Cain, Norris is a 17-year-old junior. Virtually unknown until her break-out race in May, Norris got to use her speed again in the New Balance Outdoor Nationals mile on June 16 in Greensboro, North Carolina. She boldly moved to the lead at the 440, gapping the field as Wesley Frazier of North Carolina (who’d won the 2-mile and 5,000m the previous two nights) gave chase. The two girls were even with a lap to go, but Frazier had plenty left and sprinted to victory in 4:39.66. Norris was second in 4:48.54.

It took poise and confidence to make a move like that at nationals. “I think I found myself as a runner this spring,” said Norris. “It’s all come together for me.”

Norris’ maturity was evident in New Jersey on a state-meet evening when a sweet sun, low humidity and soft breeze gave the distance events a Eugene-like feel. With crisp form and even splits, Norris bolted away from the defending champion, Randolph sophomore Elizabeth Lansing, to triumph by 25 meters and shatter the 28-year-old state meet record by almost 5 seconds. Lansing ran 4:45.36 in second. Ten girls broke 5 minutes. Only one was a senior.

Go to this season’s state meet results across the country and you’ll find scores of girls in a similar realm. Ten years ago, in 2003, 12 girls nationwide broke 4:50 for 1600. This year, it’s more like three dozen. In 2003, the New Jersey state times of Norris and Lansing would have placed them second and third in the nation.

Norris has as much potential as any of them. Until last summer, she had never done base work. Until last winter, she had never run indoor track. Until last fall, no one in her home state knew who she was.

That is, unless you watched Tenafly girls basketball in 2011 and 2012. At 5-foot-8, Norris was a shooting guard on the Tigers’ squad. She’d played basketball since third grade. Her best friends were all on the team.

As a result, when Norris was a freshman and sophomore, “after cross country she would go right to basketball, put her running shoes in the closet and take them out again in March for spring track,” said Tenafly track coach Dave Burns. After her surprising frosh 5:10 1600m, Burns was wowed. “This girl had no base and still ran that fast,” he thought.

But it took awhile for improvement to come. With no summer work, Norris placed 75th at state cross country as a sophomore. With another basketball season, Norris dipped only to 5:08 in spring track.

Last summer, Burns couldn’t take it anymore. He texted Norris asking, “Do you have a summer training plan?” To which she replied sheepishly, “Uh… no.” Burns, in concert with Bill Schlavis, the Tenafly cross country coach, gave her one. Norris went on to place 10th at the state cross country championships in November.

Oh, one more question. What about basketball? Burns felt that a runner of Norris’ caliber should be running year-round. Norris agreed. “It was not easy for her. I’m sure there were tears,” said Burns. Norris was mature enough to admit the move was the right one. “I gave up a lot, but track is where I have my talent,” she said.

A talented team is overseeing Norris’ development. Burns, 33, was a 400m hurdler in college who knew little about distance when he started coaching the boys’ team at Tenafly seven years ago. While reading up on endurance running and asking around, Burns learned the most from a Tenafly assistant coach, Erin Cook, who had run in high school. In 2010, Cook became head girls coach. For both boys and girls, Burns coached sprints and hurdles and Cook coached distance. They got married in 2011.

When Erin became pregnant, Burns took over the girls’ head coaching but he will still lean on Erin, asking “What do you think I should do today?” The week of the state track meet, after Burns told Erin his plans for Norris, his wife told him, “Don’t do that workout. She doesn’t need it. Back off.”

“They make a perfect pair for me,” said Norris. “Dave knows speed and he has studied distance. Erin knows all about distance.”

Last winter, like a kid in a candy store, Burns worked on Norris’ form. “Drills, weights, all-out 30s and 60s,” he said. “We spent a month focusing on sprint technique. I’m a hurdler and love correcting technique. I did a lot of nitpicking.” With Erin’s input, Norris kept her mileage low, 30 to 40 a week.

In her state victory, Norris was a model of technique. Burns and Norris watched a video of last year’s 1600 to fashion a race plan. Maintaining her gait and textbook-perfect arm swing to the end, Norris made her first move with 600 to go and a second move with 300 left for a decisive victory.

Norris was also a model of composure. She was nothing like the newbie at indoor nationals in March who sprinted back and forth, took some elbows, sprained an ankle and wound up eighth in the slower section of the 2 mile in 10:51.77. “Since then,” said Norris, “I’ve worked on getting control of my emotions.”

Norris’ debut as a complete runner came on May 9 at the Loucks Games’ mile in White Plains, N.Y. Norris stuck with Millrose mile and national 800 champion Sabrina Southerland of New York City’s Cardozo High until the final meters when Southerland pulled away for a 4:47.23 victory. Norris notched a big PR in second in 4:48.95 while defeating a number of established milers from several states.

At that time, Norris was only starting to put all her training elements together. With her mileage still low, she would turn to a mix of 1000s and 200s for strength and speed. Considering what Norris has accomplished so far on modest training, Burns predicts, “College coaches will be drooling over her.”

In addition to her athletics, Norris has a 4.0 GPA and serves in a peer program addressing issues like alcohol, drugs and bullying. Ask her about her running thrills and she’s quick to cite helping teammates improve their times.

“She’s one of the nicest kids in the school building,” said Burns, a P.E. and health teacher. “Teachers have become obsessed with her running career. Josette is someone you want to follow, want to root for.”

The attention will only increase this fall when Norris contends for the state cross-country title and a nationals berth. Last year, Norris took 14th in the Foot Locker Northeast.

Norris has promised herself to get in more mileage this summer. It is time to build a bigger base. More long runs. More treks to inviting park trails. More thoughts on faster miles yet to come and, who knows, maybe a race or two down the road with Mary Cain.

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